Now that I have my eyes open for food trucks, I see them nearly everywhere I go! While I was eating yesterday at Rasoi, an Indian restaurant in the Central West End, a food truck selling cupcakes parked literally outside the restaurant window. A long line of hungry customers appeared — it strikes me that there is a lot of demand for cupcakes from a food truck.
I have highlighted before on Show-Me Daily how Washington, D.C., and Saint Louis city place fewer restrictions on food trucks than certain municipalities in the broader Saint Louis area. This results in a lot of benefits, such as more food trucks, more choices for consumers, and more economic freedom.
Indian food and cupcakes are complementary goods (i.e., not subsititutes), so it’s more likely that both businesses are benefiting from their arrangement instead of one stealing business from the other. As I discussed recently, both businesses likely benefit from economies of agglomeration. Despite this, bricks-and-mortar restaurants are typically the biggest supporters of increasing restrictions. Instead of competing with food trucks on a level playing field, they attempt to convince the government to kick them out.
